Allianz Technology Share Discussion Threads

[grupo guitarlumber] 07/11/2006 11:46

Alcatel wins contract to double capacity of Kazakhstan's broadband network

PARIS (AFX) - Alcatel said it has won a contract from Kazakh national
telecoms operator Kazakhtelecom to extend and double the capacity of its
broadband network.
The value of the contract was not disclosed.
Alcatel also won a separate 5 mln eur contract from Kazakhtelecom to provide
it with optical networking to support 'triple play' services.
[e-mail]
mjs/cml

[waldron] 25/10/2006 14:01

Alcatel "buy"

Wednesday, October 25, 2006 5:50:00 AM ET
Merrill Lynch

LONDON, October 25 (newratings.com) - Analyst Sandeep Malhotra of Merrill Lynch maintains his "buy" rating on Alcatel SA (CGE.ETR). The target price is set to €12.2.

In a research note published this morning, the analyst mentions that the company has reported its 3Q revenues and EPS broadly in-line with expectations. Alcatel appears poised to secure additional contracts with US incumbents, besides the ones from Verizon and AT&T. Nortel is likely to boost Alcatel's 3G position going forward, Merrill Lynch says.

[waldron] 25/10/2006 11:00

Lucent Results Don't Fix Alcatel - Lehman

Wednesday, October 25, 2006 3:48:48 AM ET
Dow Jones Newswires



0625 GMT [Dow Jones] Lehman reiterates Alcatel (ALA) at underweight, saying that while Lucent's (LU) results are particularly strong, "this alone does neither allay our concerns over the merger nor the '07 outlook for the combined entity." Adds that as the various transactions close during 4Q, the focus should shift to the tougher '07 outlook and there is downside to Lehman's EUR8 target. Alcatel's mobile operations remain particularly weak. Lucent's strong results, driven by EV-DO upgrades in the US are more of a one-off rather than a new trend. Shares closed Tuesday at EUR10.3. (NAS)

[waldron] 25/10/2006 05:23

Alcatel Shares Gain as Lucent Earnings Beat Estimates (Update1)

By Rudy Ruitenberg

Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Alcatel SA shares rose the most in two years after Lucent Technologies Inc., soon to be a unit of the French network-equipment maker, reported profit that beat analysts' estimates.

Lucent said net income was little changed at $371 million, or 7 cents a share. Analysts including Alexander Henderson at Citigroup Inc. had expected Lucent earnings to drop. Paris-based Alcatel, reporting at the same time, said today profit fell to 155 million euros ($194 million), or 11 cents a share, from 266 million euros, or 19 cents, a year earlier.

Consolidation among phone companies such as AT&T Inc. have given them stronger negotiating positions, forcing network equipment suppliers to merge. Alcatel Chief Executive Officer Serge Tchuruk agreed in April to buy Murray Hill, New Jersey- based Lucent in a $13.4 billion stock swap to gain size and compete against Ericsson AB and Nokia Siemens Networks.

``This puts Alcatel in a good position for its fusion with Lucent,'' said Jean-Edouard Reymond, a fund manager at Union Bancaire Gestion Institutionnelle SA in Paris, which oversees about $63 billion, including Alcatel shares. ``The good earnings reports should reassure the stock market.''

Alcatel shares rose 69 cents, or 7.2 percent, to close at 10.29 euros in Paris, the biggest gain since October 2004. Lucent shares rose as much as 20 cents, or 8.6 percent, to $2.54, the biggest gain since May 2005, and traded at $2.51 as of 12:39 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

Lucent Sales

Lucent's fiscal fourth-quarter sales increased for the first time in a year, rising 5.3 percent to $2.56 billion, beating the average $2.39 billion estimate of 20 analysts Thomson surveyed.

``There's been an up-tick in spending'' for more advanced network equipment by Lucent's customers such as Verizon Wireless, said Richard Windsor, an analyst at Nomura Securities in London, who rates Alcatel and Lucent shares ``neutral.'' ``That's mostly software upgrades, which have very nice profit margins.''

Alcatel's net income had been expected to drop 36 percent to 169 million euros, the median estimate of 17 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. The company had a gain of 91 million euros from the sale of satellite assets in the year-earlier quarter.

Alcatel's third-quarter operating profit fell 7.2 percent to 258 million euros from 278 million euros a year earlier. Analysts in the survey had expected operating profit of 262 million euros.

``Sales were a bit less than expected, but they published operating profit that was in line,'' said Reymond at Union Bancaire Gestion Institutionnelle. He said the earnings report ``validates the idea of a share price at 12 to 14 euros.''

Before the announcement, shares of Alcatel had fallen 8.3 percent this year, compared with a 12 percent drop for Lucent shares and a 15 percent gain in France's benchmark CAC 40 index.

Competitive Market

In the fixed-line business, the biggest supplier of asymmetric digital subscriber lines, or ADSL, which allow high- speed hookups via traditional copper phone lines, Alcatel's operating profit rose 25 percent to 151 million euros. In the mobile communications unit, whose products include wireless base stations, profit slumped 45 percent to 64 million euros.

``It's clear that the competitive positioning has gotten a little tougher in mobile, and we don't expect that to ameliorate in the next several quarters, hence the consolation,'' Alcatel Chief Operating Officer Mike Quigley said on a conference call today. He said the Alcatel-Lucent combination will rank third globally in mobile infrastructure, with 18 percent of the market.

In the second quarter of 2006, the market for mobile- infrastructure equipment fell 3 percent from a year earlier, researcher Dell'Oro Group said in an August report.

Gaining Size

Alcatel's Lucent purchase, which is valued at $10.6 billion at current share prices, will combine the world's biggest maker of broadband Internet equipment with the largest U.S. producer of phone gear. Alcatel shareholders will control about 60 percent of the combined company.

``Fundamentals for the merger are good and strategically it makes sense,'' Nomura's Windsor said. ``The execution will be phenomenally difficult and we've penciled in only half of the savings the companies expect.''

The companies' shareholders approved the combination on Sept. 7, and the last remaining condition is approval by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.

``The structure of the company will significantly change in the coming quarter, therefore we will not be providing company specific guidance,'' the company said.

The Alcatel-Lucent merger will be done ``in a few weeks,'' Tchuruk said in a conference call.

The fourth quarter will be ``strong,'' Chief Financial Officer Jean-Pascal Beaufret said in a conference call, without giving further details.

Merger Mania

Swedish rival Ericsson AB agreed in October 2005 to buy Marconi Corp.'s broadband Internet and telecommunications assets for 1.2 billion pounds ($2.25 billion) to expand in fixed-line equipment. Following both deals, Nokia Oyj and Siemens AG in June agreed to combine their telecommunications network-equipment units to create a company with sales of about 15.8 billion euros.

Lucent Chief Executive Officer Patricia Russo will take on day-to-day management of Alcatel Lucent, while Alcatel's Tchuruk will be chairman. The companies have said they will fire 9,000 workers to help save $1.7 billion within three years, with 55 percent of the savings coming from job cuts.

The combination of Alcatel and Lucent will challenge Cisco Systems Inc., the largest maker of computer networking gear. The combined company will have annual sales of about $25 billion, surpassing Stockholm-based Ericsson, the world's biggest maker of mobile-phone networks.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris at [e-mail] .

Last Updated: October 24, 2006 12:44 EDT

[waldron] 24/10/2006 18:29

Paris shares close lower as investors pocket gains; Alcatel surges - UPDATE



(Updates with full report)
PARIS (AFX) - Share prices closed lower, retreating from yesterday's record
high as investors consolidated gains while awaiting news on the US economic
outlook later this week, beginning with the Federal Reserve's decision on
interest rates tomorrow, dealers said.
The CAC-40 index finished down 7.27 points at 5,404.54, having touched
yesterday its best level since June 2001. Volume for the day reached 4.7 bln
euro.
Among CAC-40 stocks, 13 closed higher, 25 were lower and 2 were unchanged.
November CAC-40 futures were trading down 8.5 points at 5,415.5.
The raft of US data releases later this week, including real estate,
consumer sentiment and third quarter GDP readings, kept investors wary from
pushing stocks higher after recent gains.
"The market was looking for clear direction since the beginning of the day,"
said one strategist in Paris.
Among the blue chips posting sharp declines, STMicroelectronics fell 0.37
eur or 2.7 pct to 13.30 ahead of its release of third quarter earnings after the
close of US markets tonight. Weaker than expected results from US rival Texas
Instruments, including a warning of lower fourth quarter profits than
anticipated, weighed on STMicro today.
Bouygues fell 1.22 or 2.6 pct to 45.38 as profit-taking followed a strong
run.
Schneider Electric was off 1.15 or 1.3 pct at 90.95, handing back
yesterday's gains after posting third quarter sales of 3.48 bln eur, up 15.3 pct
and broadly in line with analyst forecasts.
"This report is further proof of strong trends in most geographies. We
remain convinced that CEO Jean-Pierre Tricoire will upgrade the margin target
range (12.5-14.5 pct) by 100 basis points when the group reports full year
figures," said analysts at Societe Generale.
On the upside, Alcatel jumped 0.69 or 7.2 pct to 10.29 after posting third
quarter net profit of 155 mln eur, well below the analyst consensus forecast for
168 mln due to weakness for mobile telecoms profits.
But dealers focused instead on the fourth-quarter earnings for Lucent, which
came out well ahead of expectations. Alcatel and Lucent still expect to close
their merger deal by the end of this year.
Analysts at Fideuram Wargny in Paris noted that Lucent's operating margin
reached 15 pct in the quarter, up from 12 pct last year. "And this very good
performance for the American group is due in fact... to its mobile activities,"
the brokerage said.
"Lucent's good earnings justify the merger with Alcatel. They have
enormously reassured investors as to the interest of this transatlantic deal,"
said one trader in Paris.
On the broader indices, the SBF-80 index rose 18.70 points to 6,233.12 while
the SBF-120 fell 2.86 to 3,918.86.
The euro stood at 1.2567 usd compared with 1.2549 late yesterday.
[e-mail]
js/wj/js/rw

[waldron] 17/10/2006 15:17

Alcatel wins 48-satellite order
By Rob Coppinger
On 15 November, Franco-Italian joint venture Alcatel Alenia Space is expected to sign a contract - potentially worth billions of euros - to become the prime contractor for 48 low Earth orbit (LEO) 500kg (1,100lb) communication satellites for mobile communication provider Globalstar.

Last week, the European satellite manufacturer announced its €7.7 million ($9.6 million) authorisation to proceed (ATP) agreement with Globalstar.

This will see Alcatel Alenia Space conduct a programme readiness review and develop milestones for Globalstar's second generation of satellites that will populate the 48-spacecraft constellation.

The constellation's 500kg, 1kW power satellites that Alcatel Alenia Space is to design, develop and deliver, will have a life span of 15 years while operating in LEO. The ATP will end when the constellation contract is signed in November.

[grupo guitarlumber] 14/10/2006 12:04

Oct. 25, 2006 3rd Quarter 2006 Results
Oct. 27, 2006 Retail Shareholders Meeting, Paris, Maison de la Chimie
Nov. 13, 2006 Retail Shareholders Meeting, Lyon
Nov. 15, 2006 TMT Conference, organized by Morgan Stanley, Barcelona,
Nov. 17-18, 2006 Forum Actionnaria, Paris
Nov. 29, 2006 Retail Shareholders Meeting, Brussels
Dec. 12, 2006 Retail Shareholders Meeting, Strasbourg
Feb. 1, 2007 4th Quarter and Full Year 2006 Results

[grupo guitarlumber] 13/10/2006 08:55

Thales, Finmeccanica plan JV to acquire Alcatel space unit - report

PARIS (AFX) - Thales and Finmeccanica are seeking authorisation from the
European Commission to create a joint venture to acquire Alcatel unit Alcatel
Alenia Space, the daily Le Figaro said, without citing sources.
Thales agreed earlier this year to acquire Alcatel's 67 pct in the space
entity, in which Finmeccanica has 33 pct, as part of a broader agreement that
would also see Alcatel's stake in Thales rise to 21.6 pct from 9.5.
The commission has set a Nov 14 deadline for its inquiry into the planned
deal.

[e-mail]
mjs/jfr

[waldron] 06/10/2006 08:32

Alcatel-Lucent merger review by US to take another 45 days - report

PARIS (AFX) - The US Treasury's foreign investment vetting panel will take
an additional 45 days to study the planned merger of Alcatel and Lucent, the
daily Les Echos said, without citing sources.
The panel, which reviews investments in US companies holding military
contracts for strategic or sensitive work, normally completes its reviews within
30 days. It then makes recommendations that the US president has 15 days to
approve or reject.
[e-mail]
mjs/hjp

[waldron] 05/10/2006 11:32

EU sets deadline for inquiry into Thales, Alcatel merger for Nov 7
PARIS (AFX) - The European Commission said the deadline for its inquiry into
the proposed merger between Thales and Alcatel is set for Nov 7.
In April, Alcatel bid to up its stake in Thales to 21.6 pct from 9.5 pct, in
exchange for the transfer of its satellite and transport systems.







[e-mail]
sz/lam

[waldron] 29/9/2006 12:24

Cheuvreux: Alcatel CEO Bullish On Future

Friday, September 29, 2006 5:46:38 AM ET
Dow Jones Newswires



0835 GMT [Dow Jones] Cheuvreux reiterates Alcatel (ALA) at outperform, saying "a rather bullish" Chief Executive Serge Tchuruk highlighted three points at the autumn conference. Alcatel says the CDMA market will remain stable and the company aims to gain two points in market share in UMTS to reach 15%. Also the net pension and healthcare liabilities in the opening balance sheet could be less than initially expected due to a higher discount rate. The EUR1.4B in synergies forecasted in the merger with Lucent (LU) could also be exceeded. Alcatel +1.6% at EUR9.7. (NAS)

[waldron] 21/9/2006 13:01

CORRECTION Nokia, Alcatel tie up to boost business offering on E-series handsets

(corrects headline, lead to say deal extends Alcatel business telephony
services to Nokia E-series handsets)
HELSINKI (AFX) - Nokia said it is teaming up with Alcatel to extend the
French telecom group's business telephony offering to its E-series devices.
Nokia said its Intellisync Call Connect for Alcatel package will enable the
integration of E-series handsets into the Alcatel IP Communication server.
This will allow popular desk phone functions, such as call conferencing and
dial by name, to become available to mobile users, and enable companies greater
control of their communication costs.
The technology will become available to businesses from the fourth quarter,
Nokia said.
[e-mail]
je/jms

[waldron] 21/9/2006 10:49

Nokia is the world leader in mobile communications. Backed by its experience, innovation, user-friendliness and secure solutions, the company has become the leading supplier of mobile phones and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed and IP networks. By adding mobility to the Internet Nokia creates new opportunities for companies and further enriches the daily lives of people. Nokia is a broadly held company with listings on six major exchanges.



Alcatel and Nokia collaborate to extend business telephony


Intellisync Call Connect from Nokia integrates Nokia Eseries with Alcatel OmniPCX

Paris, France and Espoo, Finland - Alcatel (PARIS: CGEP.PA and NYSE:ALA) and Nokia (NYSE:NOK) have announced a collaboration which extends Alcatel's business telephony offering to the mobile workforce by way of the Nokia Eseries, a range of business class devices. The Intellisync Call Connect for Alcatel, is a Nokia offering designed to integrate Nokia Eseries devices into the Alcatel IP Communication server. The collaboration reaffirms both companies' commitment to mobilizing business communications.

Intellisync Call Connect for Alcatel capitalizes on the capabilities of the Alcatel OmniPCX Enterprise as well as the power of Nokia Eseries. With the solution, popular desk phone functionalities are available to the mobile user. For example, employees manage just one business number, and control where and when and on which device they receive their calls. Additionally, the benefits of the office phone, such as call conferencing, call back, and dial by name are delivered with the ease of use of Nokia Eseries, within the enterprise environment.

While employees enjoy the freedom to work from any location, enterprises can enjoy the increased accessibility of employees and profit from substantial cost savings. The IP telephony infrastructure enables companies to take advantage of Alcatel's Least Cost Routing capabilities, significantly reducing international mobile calling charges and providing greater control of overall communication costs.

The solution brings added transparency to the company's telephony cost structure by making the billing records easily available, and can help companies identify costly elements in their telephony system. The information provided by the solution can assist a company to plan and build the most efficient telephony system for its business.

"Together with Alcatel, Nokia has a great opportunity to expand the adoption of converged mobility solutions," said Scott Cooper, Vice President, Mobility Solutions, Nokia. "While enterprise voice solutions from Nokia are designed to work with leading enterprise communications solutions, the introduction of the new solution that integrates Nokia Eseries with the Alcatel OmniPCX is a significant milestone for us. Alcatel and Nokia are at the forefront in bringing solutions to the mobile marketplace that help overcome the barrier between fixed and mobile communications, thus making business communications more efficient both in and out the office."

"Alcatel and Nokia are teaming up to give both the business and the employee greater flexibility in their daily communications," said Jean-Christophe Giroux, President, Alcatel enterprise solutions division. "With a business enabled mobile phone, employees have the freedom to work where it is most productive, while enterprises receive the benefits of predictable and controllable communications costs and enhanced customer service, as callers make immediate contact with the right person. Together, Alcatel and Nokia are delivering on our commitment to mobility and the enterprise."

The new Intellisync Call Connect for Alcatel offering is part of the Intellisync Mobile Suite from Nokia. The Nokia business portfolio also features the high-performance Nokia Eseries devices which combine attractive and easy-to-use designs that appeal to individual business users with underlying technologies that allow IT departments to effectively manage security settings, corporate applications and data, and software that enable mobile applications such as email, enterprise voice and device management.

Alcatel's OmniPCX Enterprise is an integrated, interactive communications solution that delivers Alcatel's Cellular Extension software to enable Intellisync Call Connect. Currently, Intellisync Call Connect for Alcatel utilizes the cellular network to connect to a company's PBX infrastructure, and will be enhanced to support both cellular and WiFi networks with dual mode phones in the near future.

The solution will be available during the fourth quarter of 2006 through Alcatel and Nokia resellers, a few of whom commented on the opportunity:
"Trials of the Intellisync Call Connect for Alcatel solution within NextiraOne are going extremely well," said Neil Moss, Marketing and Strategy Director for NextiraOne. "Employees have given us very positive feedback on the system's ease of use, rich features and tight integration of the Nokia and Alcatel technology. Increased enterprise mobility is a key factor in helping our customers change the way they do business and Intellisync Call Connect represents another major step towards truly unified communications, which lies at the heart of NextiraOne's go-to-market strategy."

"Our enterprise customers are going through a shift as they are evolving their business voice communications systems from separate fixed and mobile infrastructures into one converged system," said Anders Nordin, Director Product Management at TDC Dotcom, Sweden. "Our role, as a systems integrator dedicated to serving the enterprise customer, is to help our customer plan their investment by mapping out their current and desired status, resources and other factors. The new solution for Nokia Eseries will be a key element in merging the two systems."

"There is a growing need to enhance mobility among enterprise users. Our customers expect to access business voice applications with their mobile devices with the same level of functionality, reliability and security as they are used with fixed and IP telephony services. With the introduction of Intellisync Call Connect for Alcatel from Nokia we can respond to our customers' needs precisely and strengthen further our fixed and wireless IP telephony strategy," says Jorma Mellin, Product Director of TDC Song, Finland.

About Alcatel
Alcatel provides communications solutions to telecommunication carriers, Internet service providers and enterprises for delivery of voice, data and video applications to their customers or employees. Alcatel brings its leading position in fixed and mobile broadband networks, applications and services, to help its partners and customers build a user-centric broadband world. With sales of EURO 13.1 billion and 58,000 employees in 2005, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. For more information, visit Alcatel on the Internet:

About Nokia
Nokia is a world leader in mobile communications, driving the growth and sustainability of the broader mobility industry. Nokia connects people to each other and the information that matters to them with easy-to-use and innovative products like mobile phones, devices and solutions for imaging, games, media and businesses. Nokia provides equipment, solutions and services for network operators and corporations.

Media Enquiries:

Alcatel
Stéphane Lapeyrade
Tel. [phone]
E-mail: stephane.lapeyrade@alcatel.

[blank frank] 19/9/2006 20:22

Please note the following new thread which may be of interest:
"Telecom Shares You Should Buy: The Tips League Table"

[waldron] 10/9/2006 15:34

Are Lucent, Alcatel undervalued?

One big shareholder claims they are
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 09/10/06
BLOOMBERG NEWS SERVICE

Lucent Technologies Inc. and Alcatel SA shares are undervalued given the savings they will see after they combine, Lucent's third-biggest stakeholder said last week.

The combined company should trade 50 percent higher than where the two stocks are now, said Tony DeSpirito, money manager at New York-based Pzena Investment Management, which owns 5.3 percent of Lucent and has been buying shares of both.

Alcatel, the world's biggest maker of broadband Internet equipment, is paying about $10 billion for Lucent and plans to cut $1.7 billion in costs within three years. Shares of both have tumbled 25 percent since the deal was announced in April amid a slump in technology stocks and declining sales at Lucent.

"There's been some short-term bad news, but in the long run the base businesses of these two companies are intact," DeSpirito said in an interview. "We like the synergies."

Shareholders of Paris-based Alcatel and Murray Hill, New Jersey-based Lucent approved the deal Thursday, creating a communications equipment maker with $25 billion in sales. About 9,000 jobs will be cut, accounting for 55 percent of cost reductions. The deal is expected to close by year-end.

DeSpirito, 38, whose firm oversees $22 billion, said he expects the combined company to increase sales by about 4 percent to 6 percent a year, in line with his industry forecast.

"These two companies have much better products" than the market recognizes, he said. "We're really excited by this."

Alcatel agreed in April to pay 0.1952 of its American depositary shares for every Lucent share, valuing the purchase at $13.5 billion at the time. Alcatel shareholders will own 60 percent of the company and Lucent's the rest.

[waldron] 07/9/2006 19:50

RPT ROUNDUP Alcatel, Lucent shareholders approve merger, creating telecoms giant

(Clarifies Tchuruk's title in merged company, corrects number of merger
resolutions at Alcatel AGM in 5th paragraph)
PARIS (AFX) - Alcatel and Lucent Technologies shareholders have approved the
proposed merger of the two companies, a 13.5 bln eur deal that will create the
world's leading fixed-line equipment maker and third-largest for mobile
equipment.
Alcatel will offer 1 share for every 5 Lucent shares, with the merger
expected to be completed by the end of this year.
The project still needs approval from the US Treasury's Committee on Foreign
Investments in the United States (CFIUS), since Lucent's Bell Labs conducts
classified research and development work for the US government.
"I am delighted that Alcatel's shareholders have approved our strategic
merger with Lucent Technologies, and I thank them for their trust," said CEO
Serge Tchuruk after the company's AGM in Paris, which had a record attendance
quorum of 40.1 pct.
All the resolutions relating to the merger were passed, with at least 85 pct
of the votes in favour of the measures.
Tchuruk will be non-executive chairman of the combined group, with the chief
executive role going to Lucent CEO Patricia Russo. The company will be based in
Paris.
"Today we received approval for the merger from Lucent's shareowners, and as
a result, we are another step closer to creating the first truly global
communications solutions provider with the broadest wireless, wireline and
services portfolio in the industry," said Russo after the Lucent AGM in
Wilmington, Delaware.
"This offensive strategy, strengthened by the projects to acquire some of
Nortel's assets and the reinforcement of our partnership with Thales, aims to
increase Alcatel's value for its shareholders, and to provide its customers with
the broadest portfolio," Tchuruk said.
Just days after announcing the Lucent merger, Tchuruk unveiled a deal to
sell Alcatel's satellite construction business to Thales, in exchange for an
additional 12.1 pct stake in the company, bringing its Thales holding to 21.6
pct.
And earlier this month, Alcatel agreed to buy the UMTS radio access business
of Canadian rival Nortel Networks for 320 mln usd.
[e-mail]
AFP/js/js/joy/js/jfr

[waldron] 05/9/2006 16:20

Alcatel Lucent Merger Better Than Nothing-UBS

Tuesday, September 05, 2006 7:14:38 AM ET
Dow Jones Newswires



1004 GMT [Dow Jones] UBS says Alcatel (ALA) is paying too much for Lucent (LU) but it is still better that the merger is approved than not. "We see standalone Alcatel as the worst possibility," it adds. Points out that EUR1.26B in cost synergies by 08 will be sufficient to offset dilution from the merger deal terms and share of the combined entity can trade up to the EUR12.50 level over the next 12 months as visibility improves. UBS maintains at buy 2 rating on Alcatel and price target for the combined entity of EUR12.50. Alcatel -1.7% to EUR9.6. (NAS)

[ariane] 01/9/2006 15:47

Alcatel downgraded to "sell"

Friday, September 01, 2006 8:00:22 AM ET
Dresdner Kleinwort Wasser.

LONDON, September 1 (newratings.com) - Analyst Per Lindberg of Dresdner Kleinwort downgrades Alcatel SA (CGE.ETR) from "hold" to "sell." The target price is set to €8.60.

In a research note published this morning, the analyst mentions that the company intends to acquire Nortel Networks' UMTS radio arm. The potential deal may adversely impact Alcatel's profitability, Dresdner Kleinwort says. The potential acquisition is, however, expected to raise the company's R&D going forward, the analyst adds.

[ariane] 01/9/2006 10:03

Alcatel Gets Good Price For Nortel Unit

Friday, September 01, 2006 4:44:03 AM ET
Dow Jones Newswires



0733 GMT [Dow Jones] Alcatel SA (ALA) got a good price for its purchase of Nortel's (NT) UMTS access unit, says a Paris-based analyst. "We were expecting something closer to $500 million so the price they got is very good," the analyst says. Adds that the bolstering of Alcatel's presence in UMTS helps its merger with Lucent (LU). "It strengthens the case for a merger since both companies need more of a UMTS presence," the analsyt says. Alcatel trades -0.1% to EUR9.9.(NAS)

[ariane] 01/9/2006 10:03

Alcatel Gets Good Price For Nortel Unit

Friday, September 01, 2006 4:44:03 AM ET
Dow Jones Newswires



0733 GMT [Dow Jones] Alcatel SA (ALA) got a good price for its purchase of Nortel's (NT) UMTS access unit, says a Paris-based analyst. "We were expecting something closer to $500 million so the price they got is very good," the analyst says. Adds that the bolstering of Alcatel's presence in UMTS helps its merger with Lucent (LU). "It strengthens the case for a merger since both companies need more of a UMTS presence," the analsyt says. Alcatel trades -0.1% to EUR9.9.(NAS)

[ariane] 01/9/2006 10:03

Alcatel Gets Good Price For Nortel Unit

Friday, September 01, 2006 4:44:03 AM ET
Dow Jones Newswires



0733 GMT [Dow Jones] Alcatel SA (ALA) got a good price for its purchase of Nortel's (NT) UMTS access unit, says a Paris-based analyst. "We were expecting something closer to $500 million so the price they got is very good," the analyst says. Adds that the bolstering of Alcatel's presence in UMTS helps its merger with Lucent (LU). "It strengthens the case for a merger since both companies need more of a UMTS presence," the analsyt says. Alcatel trades -0.1% to EUR9.9.(NAS)

[waldron] 31/8/2006 17:55

Alcatel boss defends terms of Lucent tie-up
The Associated Press
THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006
PARIS Alcatel SA chief executive Serge Tchuruk defended the terms of his company's planned US$13.4 billion (€10.5 billion) tie-up with U.S. rival Lucent Technologies Inc., in an interview published Thursday by financial daily Les Echos.

The proposed share swap is appropriate for a friendly merger of the kind unveiled by the two telecoms equipment makers in April and cannot be changed, Tchuruk said.

The Alcatel boss was speaking after French shareholder advisory firm Proxinvest came out against the terms of the tie-up, suggesting that Alcatel holders were getting a rough deal and advising them to vote against it at the company's shareholder meeting Sept. 7.

Lucent shareholders are set to vote on the proposed deal at a meeting the same day.

Proxinvest argued that the proposed swap of one new Alcatel share for five Lucent shares did not take adequate account of disappointing recent financial results posted by Lucent or the company's large pension liabilities.

"The stock prices of the two companies are now linked, and it's not possible to change the merger parities," Tchuruk said.

Lucent's total pension liabilities were more than comfortably covered by its assets, he said. "It's a non-subject."

Tchuruk also defended the choice of Lucent as a merger partner for Alcatel.

"It's a heavyweight, and only a marriage between heavyweights can bring an important flow of synergies," he said. "This combination will shift Alcatel toward the world's largest market, the United States. I should also add that the potential partners for a large deal were not so abundant."